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  1. #1

    Default Re: Contesting 71 Over 55 on Washington State's SR 270

    Since it's not yet your scheduled court date, I shall reply only to say good luck, and that I can personally attest to Searcher and Taxing Matters reliability and assistance in these issues (and surely others)
    They, along with some other kind folks helped me navigate though my 1st (and last) speeding ticket, where I went up against the prosecution (Tukwila, WA) and WON.
    It seems that WA may have managed to close the loophole in which I won with (SMD radar calibration checking) so I hope that your court date goes smoothly.

    A few tips from experience...
    Write your notes CLEARLY.
    Breathe.
    Do not interrupt the judge. (yes, self explanatory... But still lol. You'll be surprised at how nerves can screw you!!)

    Lastly, PLEASE return here and share the results... Most people do not... And I can attest to the appreciation of those helping you, when you give a modicum of information on how things went.

    Good luck!!!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Posts
    10

    Default Re: Contesting 71 Over 55 on Washington State's SR 270

    Court report:

    The officer did not show up and I contested with the strategy that I laid out earlier in this thread and lost. After I made my motions, the judge took a "recess" and vanished for 30 mins. He said he was researching IRLJ 6.6 (d), but I doubt that took him 30 minutes. My theory is that he was contacting the officer and/or reading this forum. Due to small town nature of Pullman, I reckon that the judge likely knows the citing officer. The judge's behavior changed completely towards me after he returned from his "recess". Whereas in cases before mine, he allowed defendants to use their deferral even after a finding of committed, he was not budging in my case. Such selective application of rules is a remarkable quality that can be seen in small towns.

    The Whitman district court in Pullman has a highly informal traffic docket.

    I was expecting the process to be:
    --> Judge considers my first motion and makes a ruling on it. I make subsequent motions later one by one sequentially.

    Actual process was:
    --> When I told the Judge that I had preliminary motions, he asked me to list them all. He took some notes and then vanished into his 30 minute "recess".

    Results for my motions were (you can check out my motions in previous posts):

    First: he didn't think the contradicting statements in my case had any effect on the fact that I was speeding or not. I tried to argue that the statements undermined the statement's credibility, but he didn't entertain the argument.
    Second: he didn't think the certificates were hard to search and told me that he found them online.
    Third: he found no prejudice in $187 vs $190. My final committed amount is $190 as well, he didn't even reduce it to $187 as a show of gesture to my attempt at contesting.

    End of report.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    886

    Default Re: Contesting 71 Over 55 on Washington State's SR 270

    Thank you for your detailed report. It’s true that some courts especially in small towns are less inclined to consider preliminary defenses that focus on technical defects. That’s why it’s really a good idea to listen in on defense attorneys representing infraction cases. If they are only doing deals and deferrals, then you have a strong clue that it’s a difficult court.

    The fact that the judge took a 30 minute recess at least indicates that you made compelling arguments that he couldn’t just roll over without careful consideration. You can appeal to Superior Court, but that’s expensive in terms of both time and money so would not be an option unless you really wanted to take it on as a project.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Posts
    10

    Default Re: Contesting 71 Over 55 on Washington State's SR 270

    Thank you all for your help, especially searcher99. I had a lot of fun working on my case, didn't feel so excited for anything in the last decade. I heavily considered bailing out via deferral or amendment to non-moving, but what's the thrill in that? Haha.

    I would have liked to elevate this to Superior Court (SCourt), but Whitman county's SCourt doesn't hold a trial for appeals of infraction cases. The SCourt will only review the record that is provided by the district court. I don't see a point in spending $386 just to have SCourt review the materials without a trial. And I'm positive that the SCourt judge is a friend of the district court judge and would likely rule against me.

    It was fun while it lasted. Hopefully, I don't get another traffic ticket, but if I do, I know how to play the game now :-P

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Posts
    4,301

    Default Re: Contesting 71 Over 55 on Washington State's SR 270

    Quote Quoting searcher99
    View Post
    The fact that the judge took a 30 minute recess at least indicates that you made compelling arguments that he couldn’t just roll over without careful consideration.
    Or it meant the judge needed to poo.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    193

    Default Re: Contesting 71 Over 55 on Washington State's SR 270

    Ticketnoob, I am sorry you lost. The issue of attacking the officer's credibility in WA is that the standard for conviction of a traffic ticket is only preponderance of the evidence. You would have to have demonstrated that the inconsistencies in the officer's statement were so egregious that almost nothing he stated was believable. Casting doubt is not enough. The fact that the officer took the time to stop you and issue a ticket indicates that he believed you were speeding is a lot of evidence to overcome which is why most wins are on technical grounds, not "here is why I believe the officer got this wrong". Obviously he believed it was more likely that you were speeding than not and found you guilty even with the issues with the statement.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    886

    Default Re: Contesting 71 Over 55 on Washington State's SR 270

    I would have to at least somewhat disagree with the above, because for most WA speeding tickets preponderance is largely irrelevant. Preponderance is only applicable to a finding of “committed” or “not committed” after a hearing of evidence. A successful speed ticket defense usually involves preliminary (before evidence is heard) suppression of the speed measuring device evidence due to insufficiency of required elements such as certification, testing, tracking history or visual estimate. Those situations will result in NO finding based on weight of evidence, but rather a simple dismissal without prejudice--meaning theoretically the case could be re-filed but actually that never happens.

    If the SMD evidence is suppressed, dismissal due to lack of evidence is automatic. Tracking history and a visual estimate are required as a prerequisite to using the SMD, because in Washington State a visual estimate alone is usually not sufficient. In ticketnoob’s case the officer attests to him “Passing a vehicle that was at 60 mph” then later “I did not see the defendant pass any other vehicle.” These statements clearly relate to the visual estimate and tracking history, which if deemed insufficient could result in exclusion or suppression of the radar reading and dismissal due to lack of evidence.

    Although this particular judge did decide that the tracking history and visual estimate were admissible, it’s possible that a higher court could find that he erred in that conclusion. However since the radar evidence was deemed admissible, the end result was preponderance and a finding of “committed”.

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